Fast-food staple now a lifeline
Drive-thrus helping keep many restaurants afloat during pandemic
For decades, the fast-food drive-thru has been a greasy symbol of Americana, a roadside ritual for millions of travelers with a hankering for burgers and fries.
Now the drive-thru has taken on a new importance in the age of social distancing.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced small, independent restaurants to close and Michelin star chefs to experiment with takeout. But despite the chaos, the nation’s drive-thrus have continued to churn out orders, providing a financial reprieve for chains like McDonald’s and Burger King even as fast-food workers have become increasingly concerned about the threat of infection.
Many people have even started treating drive-thrus like grocery stores, making only occasional trips but placing larger orders. Popeyes has introduced “family bundles” to capitalize on the demand for bigger meals. Taco Bell is offering free Doritos Locos Tacos on Tuesdays to increase traffic at some of its drive-thrus, overwhelming employees. And dine-in chains like Texas Roadhouse have converted empty parking lots into temporary drive-thru lanes.
“For many restaurants, it’s an absolute savior,” said Jonathan Maze, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine.
At many chains, including McDonald’s, the drive-thru accounted for as much as 70% of revenue before the crisis, generating billions of dollars for the industry every month. During the pandemic, sales have mostly held steady. In March, drive-thrus generated $8.3 billion across the fast-food industry, an increase from $8 billion in sales over the same period in 2019, according to data from the NPD Group, a market research firm.
But while it has shielded fast-food companies from the worst economic effects of the pandemic, the drive-thru has become dangerous for some low-wage workers, who cook and serve food in cramped conditions, often without access to protective equipment. In some states, workers at McDonald’s and other chains have staged walkouts and called for increased safety precautions.
Like other businesses that have remained open, drive-thrus are often tinged with fear. Some customers roll down their windows just far enough to stick out a pair of tongs. Others arrive armed with Lysol spray and plastic wrap.
And despite repeated assurances from the major fast-food chains that gloves and face masks are on the way, anxious (and often maskless) employees working at drive-thrus struggle to maintain social distance, even with fewer workers on each shift.
Still, the pandemic has caused plenty of financial pain even for companies whose drive-thrus are humming. The chief executive of McDonald’s, Chris Kempczinski, has taken a 50% pay cut. After reporting a decline in sales on Thursday, Kempczinski warned that “the exact trajectory of our recovery is highly uncertain.”
And individual franchisees may also struggle, especially in the short term. In April, the National Owners Association — an advocacy group that represents some McDonald’s franchisees — clashed with the company over rent payments and other issues.
Overall, however, the corporate muscle of the big fast-food companies puts franchisees in an enviable position compared to most small businesses, especially independent restaurants. At Burger King and Popeyes, individual store owners have gotten help from corporate “franchisee liquidity teams” in applying for the loans under the government’s small-business relief program.